2th April 2026 (Week 1) - April 2026 (Week 4)

Publishing Design - Section 02

Insha Thahirah Rajab - 0360671

Bachelor's Degree in Creative Media (Honors) - Taylors University

Task 1 - Exercises

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Exercises

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LECTURES

Lecture playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZk01iRkmnlVoh5JiLUcvAl4bitcW4xB2

Week 1

Formats (1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yIKjsMPfjs&list=PLZk01iRkmnlVoh5JiLUcvAl4bitcW4xB2&index=1

This semester, the main publication that is focused on is the Book, due to its historical significance. Other forms of publishing include: Magazine, Newspaper, Catalogues etc.

The Book

- Medium to record documents transmit ideas, knowledge, records, history and so much more.

Requires knowledge in:

Typography
Layouts
Sense of Space
Eye for Details
Good Publishing Software

Factors that influence and determine the format of a book:

Size (of reader, ie: Child, Adult etc)/ Age Group
Type of Binding
Type of Paper (ie: Thickness)
Type/ Amount of Content

Historical Formats

Iran-Iraq = Mesopotamian civilization

Figure 1.0 Mesopotamian civilization, Week 1(15/04/26)

India-Pakistan-Afghanistan = Indus Valley civilization

Figure 1.1 Indus Valley civilization, Week 1(15/04/2026)

Egypt = Ancient Egyptian civilization

Figure 1.2 Ancient Egypt civilization, Week 1(15/04/2026)

China = Han Chinese civilization

Figure 1.3 Han Chinese civilization, Week 1(15/04/2026)

Europe (Turkey & beyond ) = European civilization

Figure 1.4 European civilization, Week 1(15/04/2026)

Week 2

History of Print (2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbaIbhUHJM&list=PLZk01iRkmnlVoh5JiLUcvAl4bitcW4xB2&index=2

This lecture focuses on the history of print, mainly because of the evolution we have withstood to come this far.

The emperor of China commanded in AD 175 that the six main classics of Confucianism be carved in stone. Confucianism scholars eager to own these texts laid sheets of paper on the slabs and rubbed charcoal all over them, taking away a text in white letters on a black background.

Figure 1.5 Brass Rubbing, Week 2(24/04/2026)

Korea & Japan

Printing was invented by Budhiststs in East Asia. The earliest known printed document is a sutra printed on a single sheet of paper in Korea in AD 750. Closely followed by Japan by a bold experiment in mass circulation in which many have survived.

First Printed book

(AD 868): Diamond Sutra; 16 feet long and a foot high.

Chinese Publishing

(10th to 11th century): Printing from wooden blocks.

Movable Type

(from the 11th century): Separate ready-made characters with pottery, which can be arranged in the correct order for a text and then reused.

Type Foundry in Korea

(c. 1830): TheKoreanss establish a foundry to make movable type in bronze, which is strong for repeated printing, dismantling, and resetting for a new text.

Saints and Playing Cards

(Ad c.1400): The Main market is holy images for sale to pilgrims.

Gutenberg & Western Printing

(AD 1439-1457): The name first appears in a law case in Strasbourg in 1439. One of his developments is a printing press.

The world's largest book

Stands upright, set in stone on the grounds of the Kuthodaw Pagoda at the foot of MandalayHilll in Mandalay, Myanmar.

Figure 1.5 World's Largest Book, Week 2(24/04/2026)

Week 3

Typo Redux (3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEU90MvI-gs&list=PLZk01iRkmnlVoh5JiLUcvAl4bitcW4xB2&index=3&t=188s

Typography is the most important for a graphic designer, it is the art of arranging and composing text, and it is also a medium for expression and most importantly communication.

Characters in a typeface: Small caps, Numerals, Fractions, Ligatures, Punctuations, Mathematical Signs, Symbols, Non-Aligning Figures.

Fig 3.1: Characters in a typeface

Fig 3.2: Weights of a typeface

Legibility: Choosing text typefaces that are open and well proportionate.

Fig 3.3: Legibility

Underline: The underline should be lowered so that it does not touch the letters, as this impedes readability.

Small Caps and All Caps: Small Capitals are good for Subheads or for the first line of a paragraph. All Caps should be used in Short Headlines or Subhead;, it should never be used for long sentences or emphasis.

Special Purpose Style: Many styles exist for making footnotes, references ,and mathematical formulas. These tend to be embedded or nested within the tools sections, and a lay user may not be aware oftheirs functions.

Text Scaling: Some programs allow the user to distort the font by vertically and horizontally stretching a font. You should never do this as it distorts the font and makes it look cheap.

Outline & Shadow: Avoid it as it makes the font look worse and unreadable.

Type size, Line length & Line spacing: It creates a text that flows naturally when it is used harmoniously. Evenwell-designedd typefaces suffer from legibility when even one is out of balance.

Leading: refers to the amount of space between lines of type.

Character and Word Space: Kerning creates a more pleasing look to the text, and most page-layout programs apply kerning automaticall;, however, some combinations may require manual adjustments.

Alignment: Texts can be aligned in 5 different ways (Flush Left, Ragged Right, Flush Right, Lagged Left, Centered, Justified (Left, Centre & Right).

Paragraph Spacing: Automatic Space between each paragraph that is applied when starting a new paragraph.

Paragraph Indent: Small indent at the start of each paragraph. Can be used when there is no paragraph spacing; using both is overkill.

Special Formatting:

Hyphens: Used to divide words or numbers, break words from one line to the next.
Dashes: Em-Dashes: Longer than hyphens, used to separate ranges of items.
Em-Dashes: Longer than Em-dashes. Should not be overused.

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INSTRUCTIONS

Figure 1.6 Module Information Booklet (PDF), Week 1(15/04/2026)

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EXERCISES

Timeframe: Week 01 – Week 07

Deadline: Week 08

Description: Throughout the beginning and the middle of the semester, exercises will be prescribed at various phases of the module. These exercises will aid and benefit you in your quest to gain theoretical and practical knowledge in book design that will inform you whilst completing various phases of the module’s tasks.

All exercises prescribed are to be completed and documented (labelled, clean, clear & concise) in your e-portfolio. Please note that Task 1 will run concurrently with Task 2.

The exercises are as follows:

1) Text formatting*

2) Mock-up making

3) Signature folding systems (8+8=16)

4) Classical Grid structure

*For text formatting, use the 3000 words in Task 2 and format it as shown in the example pdf provided.

Prepare:

• A3 (16 sheets) Paper**

• Large rubber band & Stapler (large)

• Adhesive Tape (masking, sellotape, scotch)

• Steel Ruler (16" if you have)

• Cutter

• Pencil, Pens, markers

**For the A3 paper, recycle paper is also fine.

EXERCISE 1 - Signature Folding systems

For this exercise, we used 1 A2 sheet of paper which we folded 3 times in half to create an signature structure to form a book.

Figure 1.7 A3 paper, folded 3 times, Week 1(22/04/2026)

Next, we folded them together to create a mini book, following an almost similar layout style for a zine.

Figure 1.7 Signature Unfolded bookformat, Week 1(22/04/2026)

Afterwards, we had to number the pages, to understand how this signature folding looks like unfolded.

Figure 1.8 Numbered Folded book format, Week 1(22/04/2026)

This is what it looks like unfolded:

Figure 2.0 Numbered Unfolded book format #2, Week 1(22/04/2026)

The next move was binding. For this simple folding style, we decided to staple down and cut off all excess borders.

The sample book was complete and the signature folding style was used to do so:

Figure 2.1 Book format folding style, Week 1(22/04/2026)

Afterwards we trimmed the corners to create a fully functional book, with turning pages.

Figure 2.2 Signature Folding System (GIF), Week 2(29/05/2026)

EXERCISE 2 - Text Formatting

For exercise 2, at home, we had to format 3000 words of text to be published in a book format. It should Include 3 chapters, text, subtext, pull-quotes, and other details as per example provided below:

Figure 2.2 Text Formatting Example (PDF), Week 1(15/04/2026)

This was my draft attempts for my writing and planning:

Figure 2.3 Text Formatting Draft(PDF), Week 1(15/04/2026)

This was my final text formatting for "The Voices That Speak Most". It included the cover page, Introduction, Chapters and References.

Figure 2.4 Text Formatting (PDF), Week 3(06/05/2026)

EXERCISE 3 - Van De Graff & Classical Grid Structure

For this exercise, we started off learning the Van De Graff structure: a combination of geometry and logic used to create margins for bookmaking back in the day.

We decided to apply this mathematical concept onto our inDesign book format, following the measurements chosen by us for our final book:

Figure 2.5 Van De Graff structure, Week 1(22/04/2026)

Using this grid structure, we are able to get the margins for our border by looking at where the lines intersect:

Figure 2.6 Van De Graff structure for margins, Week 1(22/04/2026)

Columns can also be applied to this:

Figure 2.7 Van De Graff structure with Margins and Columns, Week 1(22/04/2026)

These were the measurements used for the final margins and columns:

Figure 2.8 Van De Graff structure with Margins and Columns (Settings), Week 1(22/04/2026)

Using the Van De Graff structure, we added our text from our publication. Here's the output:

Figure 2.9 Van De Graff Exercise using formatted text, Week 2(29/04/2026)

PDF of the Van De Graff Exercise:

Figure 3.0 Van De Graff Exercise (PDF), Week 2(29/04/2026)

Afterwards, we had to create more variations, include a quotation, an image, and some subtext. We were allowed to play around with a few fonts and colours. Here are a few layouts i made, each respectively following the Van De Graff system:

Figure 3.1 Van De Graff with Text Formatting #1, Week 2(29/04/2026)

Figure 3.2 Van De Graff with Text Formatting #2, Week 2(29/04/2026)

Figure 3.3 Van De Graff with Text Formatting #3, Week 2(29/04/2026)

Figure 3.4 Van De Graff with Text Formatting #4, Week 2(29/04/2026)

Figure 3.5 Van De Graff with Text Formatting #5, Week 2(29/04/2026)

Figure 3.6 Van De Graff with Text Formatting #6, Week 2(29/04/2026)

The version that I liked the most was the 5th version. I used Alte Haas Grotesk for pull quotes, Cormorant Garamond for the body text, and Garamond Italic for subtext.

Here is a PDF version, without the guides:

Figure 3.7 Van De Graff Exercise with Text Formatting(PDF), Week 2(29/04/2026)

EXERCISE 4 - Mock-up Making

For the mock-up making, we had to start off by taking measurements. It had to be smaller than an A3 size, but bigger than A5 sizing. This was the measurements I decided to go for, after many revisions (162mm x 237mm):

Figure 3.8 Mock-up Measurements Week 2(29/04/2026)

Next we made a simple mock-up folding of this measurements, to feel how it would be as a book. Turning the pages, holding it, a physical copy helps envision the final book (also taking margins and cutting into consideration).

Figure 3.9 Folded Paper Book Mock-up with measurements Week 2(29/04/2026)

Using these dimensions, we were told to create a bbook. I used rubber band for my binding and a different colour paper for the cover page:

Figure 4.0 Final Book Mock-up (Closed), Week 3(07/04/2026)

Figure 4.1 Final Book Mock-up (Open), Week 3(07/04/2026)

Figure 4.2 Final Book Mock-up, Single Page Mock-up, and Measurement Guide, Week 3(11/04/2026)

Here is a GIF of me flipping through the book mock-up:

Figure 4.3 Final Book Mock-up (GIF), Week 3(07/04/2026)

EXERCISE 5 - Determining Grids

After playing around with the Van De Graff Exercise, we had to determine grids for our own publication, using the formatted text.

I started off by playing around with different grids, including varied columns and sizing:

Figure 4.4 Determining Grids (PDF), Week 3(07/04/2026)

I decided to go for the third grid layout with the selected margins and columns as I felt it fit my book the most. These were the configurations:

Figure 4.5 Chosen Margin and Column Settings, Week 3(07/04/2026)

This was the chosen grid with text:

Figure 4.4 Chosen Grid with Text (PDF), Week 3(07/04/2026)

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